Logging-chute.



V ERlCKSON.

LOGGING CHUTE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-12. 19w.

Patented. Oct. 15, 1918.

VICTOR'ERICKSON', OF ASTORIA, OREGON.

LOGGING-CHU TE.

Specification-of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 15, 1918.

Application filed September 12, 1917. Serial No. 191,085.

To all/whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Vro'rron' ERIoKsoN, a citizen of Finland, residing at Astoria, in the county of Clatsop and State of Oregon, have invented new and useful Improvements in Logging-Chutes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to conveyers, and more especially to chutes ,such as are used for the transfer of logs down a hill-side; and the object of the same is to provide such a chute with means for checking the progress of the logs at intervals so that they will notattain excessive speed. Retarding devices broadly speaking are now used for this purpose, consisting of what are called goose necks driven into the poles which form the rails of the chute and against which the traveling logs strike to retard their progress, but it frequently occurs that these devices check the movement of a log, others accumulate behind it, and a jam occurs which results in unprofitable delays, sometimes the derailment of the logs with quite disastrous results to them or surrounding objects, and always more or less lossof time of the workmen who must clear the jam.

One purpose of'the present invention is to produce a retarding device'which is not intended to absolutely stop the progress of the logs, but which when it does can be retracted easily from an adjacent or remote point so that the accumulation of other logs and the putting of the chute out of commission is avoided. v

-With this general statement ofmy purposes,rthe invention may be said to lie in the details described and claimed below and shown in the drawings wherein-- I Figure 1 is a perspective view of a section of this chute, showing a single log therein as resting at its lower end against a pair of retaining devices Ol- ClOgS.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical longitud nal section through one of the poles of the chute at a point "where the dog is mounted therein, the latter being shown in full lines in its normal position and in dotted lines as retracted to permit the log to pass on.

Fig. 3 is a perspective detail of the plate, viewed from the under side.

Fig, 4 is a perspective detail of the dog.

The chute in the present case is composed of a pair of rails standing strictly parallel, spaced such a distance as to prevent the smallest log out from dropping between them, laid directly on the ground or on ties or other supports embedded therein, and extending from the logging field at a high altitude down the mountain side to a river or stream into which it is desired to deliver the logs, so that they can be floated onward to the mill for subsequent treatment. Each rail "will by preference be madeup of a number of small logs or poles P with their extremities matched and connected end to end'and their inner upper sides preferably hewn off so that collectively they constitute the chute described. All this is well known to men ,of'the craft, but is described in outline to afiord basis for what follows.

' At appropriate intervals along each rail, the active side of each pole is cutout or recessed as indicated at ,1, and the recess continued clear through the pole in a slot 2. A metal plate 3 is then seated in the recess flush with the face thereof, the platehaving a longitudinal ,slot 4 and carrying a cross bar or fulcrum ,5 on its under side extending across the slot near the lower end of the latter. 7 By preference the chute at each interval carriestwo of these plates and dogs, disposed in the poles directly opposite each other.

The dog shown in Fig. 4 has a substantially straight shank or body 10 with an eye 11 at its lower end and a head at its upper end. The head comprises a hook 12 whose bill stands at an acute angle to the length of the body, and a nib 13 projecting from the body 011 that side opposite said bill and at a point slightly removed from the heel of the hook, between which and the nib occurs what I will call the face 14 of the dog, whereas the bill of the hook might be called the tail thereof. The body or shank 10 of the dog extends downward through the slot 2 in the pole, and a spring 15 is employed to draw said shank normally against the upper end of the slot or against a pin 16 driven across it at a proper point. The eyes 11 of the two dogs are herein shown as connected by a cross rod 17, and a cord or rope 18 leads from thecenter of this rod to a point where the workmen can grasp it. As indicated at Fig. 1 the cord may lead around a pulley l9 and uphill, and the cords of several retarding deviceswcould be connected to a master cord 20 which when drawn upon will trip all the dogs.

In use, the hook 12 of each dog isengaged over the cross bar or fulcrum 5 OLE-1135 plate, and the spring draws the parts into such.

position that the nib l3 stands within the upper end of the slot in said plate, the entire face 14 is exposed uphill along the chute, and the tail of the dog occupies the lower end of the slot, and therefore the elements cannot enter the slot and accumulate within the recess in the'pole. 'When now the logs are sent down the chute,;as each one strikes a retarding device which consists of a pair of these dogs, the projecting portions of the dogs bite through the bark of the log and perhaps scratch-the wood thereof more or less. This depends on the distance the dogs project beyond the face of the plate 3, which is usually about one inch, and it depends also upon the size and the shape of the face ll 'which may be rough, angular, or fiat as shown and will be of an appropriate widthits' length being about aninch as stated, Ordinarily the result will be that the progress of thelog will be appreciably checked or retarded, thereby preventing it from attaining excessive speed even though it is traveling down a'quite steep chute; but ordinarily'also'v the inertia of the log will cause it to force itself pastand over the retarding device, beyond whichit will continu'e on its way at aireduced speed. Thus by placing'these retarding devices atintervals along the chute, perhaps where the latter is quite'steep, the engineer by the exercise of'good judgment can regulate the speed'of the logs being handled,and vavoid the troubles enumerated above.

If, however, a log should'be checked by i one of these devices so that it does not past the same as intended, the operator has only to pull on the cord which'rocks the dog over its fulcrum and draws its head down into the slot in the plate, thereby withdrawing its point from within the log or its .face

" from beneath the lower end thereof; and the log starts downward on its course, and frees those it may have accumulated in the chute above it. If a. master rope. 20 i employed as shown in Fig. 1, a pull thereon will trip all the dogs simultaneously and there is. .no necessity for the workmen passing down the chute to any particular point.

It" is quite possible by :using these devices to construct the chute on a rather steep hillside, where the grease usually applied to the poles or rails thereof is not; needed, but the distance the dogs normally project beyond the plate may be varied according to meet these and other conditions and may be adjusted by setting the pin 16 or by filing off the outer end of the dog to reduce the length of the face 14. 1

What is claimed is: V 1. A logging chute composed. of parallel poles laid end to end and provided at intervals with recesses and slots opening therefrom through the poles, a plate m0unt edin each recess and having a longitudinal slot, a fulcrum bar on the under side of the plate across the lower end of its $1011, a dog 2. A loggingchute composed ofparallel poles laid end to end and provided at intervals with recesses and; slots opening therefrom through the poles, a plate mounted'in each recess and having "a lon'g itudinal slot, a fulcrum bar' acrossthe'lower end of the slot, a dog havingahookedghead standing within the slot in the' plate and engaged with said barxand a shank standing within the slot in the pole, a nibontheupper side of the shank remotefroni the point of the head leaving" aface 'betw'een'the nib and point disposed toward theumoer end "of the chute, a spring moving the dog to normally expose such face above such plate, and means for swinging the dog at will in opposition to the tensionof the spring.- j

3. A loggingchute composed of parallel poles laid end to end and provided at inter valswith recesses, and slots opening therefrom through the poles, a plate mounted in each recess fand havin'gfa longitudinal slot, a fulcrum bar'onthe under side'of the plate across the lower end ofits" slot, dog having a head standing within, the slot'in the plate and fulcrumed onsaid bar and a shank standing within the slot in the pole,

the head having aface disposed towardt-he upper end of the chute, aspring moving the dog to normally exposesuch face: above such plateya stop limiting the action of the V spring, and"means for swinging the dog at 'Wlll in opposit on to the tension; ofthe spring. 7

4.111s chute, the combination with arail having an: vupright;longitudinal sl'ot, a bar acrosslthe upper en dfof the slot, and a pin across the lower end -thereofg of a dog -having a hooked head 'fulcrumed on said bar and-with-its-face exposed; above'therail whenEt-heshank ofthe dog lies againsts'aid pin, yielding means for holdingthe dog normally in this position, and manually operable devices for swinging the'dog on said fulcrum,-for the purpose set forth;

5. In a logging chute, the combination with a pair of spaced rails having upright slots opposite each other through the rails at intervals along the chute, and a fulcrum bar across each slot; of a dog whose head is pivotally mounted on each bar and adapted 5 to swing out of or to be housed within the slot, its shank hanging therein and provided with an eye near its lower end, a rod connecting the eyes of opposite dogs, a cord leading from said eye whereby the dogs may be swung in one direction, and yielding 10 means for normally swinging them in the opposite direction.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

VICTOR ERICKSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). O. 

